


A Puzzle Piece to be Placed

by Eleanorose123



Series: You're My Pawn and Nothing More [2]
Category: Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015)
Genre: Interfacing mention, M/M, Police Brutality, bad times in the supposedly peaceful new age
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-06-07 08:13:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6796237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eleanorose123/pseuds/Eleanorose123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a particularly frustrating day, Thunderhoof was glad to spend some down time with his mate. So glad, in fact, that he decided to confide with Steeljaw a particularly concerning memory of his past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Puzzle Piece to be Placed

**Author's Note:**

> Finally got this part done! After the first segment got some well-received feedback I had immediately started writing the first half of this fic, but got distracted by a lot of TFP fic ideas. Now I can finally be satisfied enough with it to post.
> 
> This part is set just after the events of "Sideways", and reading the first installment isn't necessary, but is recommended.

To say he was having a bad day was an understatement.

Thunderhoof was livid about many events that occurred in the past 24 hours; having to run into the snitch that ratted him out, getting knocked unconscious as a result of chasing down said snitch, and having the rotten no good snitch end up becoming his teammate were just a few things on the list of bad times. Other annoyances did include having an awful processor ache and being temporarily captured by Autobots…again.

But, Thunderhoof was somewhat thankful that he wasn’t intaking cryo-gas, and that he was safe as he could be back at his group’s temporary base. Even with teammates like Underbite making his processor ache worsen.

“Somethin’ tells me you ain’t too chuffed ‘bout our new compardre, are ya?” the Chompazoid spoke in between mouthfuls of steel. Even though there was no sign of an upcoming fight, Underbite seemed to just enjoy the taste of the metal as a delight. “Heh, not like you’ve got much of a say in the matter.”

“Eh, keep yer trap shut why don’t ya. If I needed to hear some scrap noise garbage I woulda stuck my helm in a mill machine. And even THAT sounds better than listenin’ to your blabber.”

The moose-con groaned and rubbed the sides of his helm at the mere idea of more agony. As if picking up on that distress, Underbite decided to leave well enough alone, and took his snack into another room to finish, leaving Thunderhoof with Fracture. The bounty hunter was distracted enough from cleaning his blade from tire residue, giving the crime boss a sense of relief that silence was sure to stay for at least a little while.

“So, why are you lettin’ the blabbercon live anyway?”

_Primus damnit, not even a klick of peace._

“Who says I’m letting that scrapheap function after what he dids to me?” The awful memory of being arrested all those years ago had been plaguing Thunderhoof all day thanks to Clampdown’s return. He was only willing to part more of that information with one con and Fracture was definitely not it.

“You did. The minute you let Steeljaw slice the crab’s tracker and make ‘im one of us.” Seeming content with the state of his blade, Fracture retracted it and chose to walk towards the annoyed teammate, a certain curiosity in his optics. “For someone who chose to go after a Con over an Autobot, you sure backed off the minute our…”boss” said otherwise. What, did the big bad wolf-con threaten you to let Clampdown stay?”

Thunderhoof couldn’t even bring himself to dignify that statement with a response. With an annoyed grunt, he gave a glare to the smirking hunter and left the area, choosing to go outside to get some peace. If there was actually any to be found on this pit forsaken planet.

Deciding it’d be best to stay near the steel mill in case he was needed (“Primus, please not any time soon” he inwardly begged) Thunderhoof sat against the building in some of the over grown grass. The soft texture was only mildly enjoyed as he leaned back to turn his attention to the night sky and let his processor wander…

“Thunderhoof, a word.”

_The pits were out to get him today._

“Urgh! Can’t a mech get a second of quiet ‘round here!” Turning to face his “not-too-long-established-but-still-a-secret” mate, Thunderhoof rolled his optics at the sight of a skittery Clampdown at Steeljaw’s side. “And of course, my misery just keeps growin’. What do yous want now?”

“Forgive the intrusion, brother,” That term just felt so wrong between them, considering all the non-brotherly situations Steeljaw and Thunderhoof have been in these past few weeks. “Our brother Clampdown is merely here to speak his mind. Surely, you can spare him a moment or two of your time?”

“Not interested in any excuses, ya trash.”

“Oh, I assure you, he only plans on speaking the truth to you.” A pathetic little jolt of fear was made from the con in question, as a clawed servo patted him on the head.

Paying a little closer attention, Thunderhoof could make out quite a number of mild claw marks running across Clampdown’s frame. The type Steeljaw liked to make when making passive demands from another. He knew about those marks quite well from certain nights of ‘facing.

“Er, r-r-right, I, er- gots some things to- to tell ya boss! Well, uh, not boss-boss since Steeljaw is-“ Clampdown shrieked from a low growl the wolf-con gave, and carried on with his spiel. “What I mean is! It was a STUPID, and SELFISH mistake from me to EVER cross such a, er, well respected crime boss like yerself, Thunderhoof sir. And if I could do its again, I woulda thrown myself into the slamma.” To prove a point, he held his claws out as if being arrested. “Take me officers! I’m the scum you want here! Eheheh…”

Thunderhoof was mildly amused. Not by the pitiful excuse of an apology, but by how terrified Clampdown was acting. As he should be around him of course, but no, Thunderhoof could tell this fear originated from his rather vicious when angered partner. Oh what did Steeljaw do to him, he wondered, and decided curiosity wasn’t enough to satisfy him on this night.

“Is that so?” The moose-con let out a small laugh, as if accepting the joke. “Well in that case- beat it you snivlin’ coward, ‘fore I turn your t-cog inside out while your optics watch!” Slamming a heel to the ground, a tremor caused the already jittery crab to topple over before recollecting himself and skittered away as fast as his tiny legs could take him.

“Well, now, that threat just left nothing to imagination now did it?” Steeljaw watched until Clampdown retreated back into the steel mill before turning to his partner with a smirk on his face. “Next time try something that’ll make his processor cry over the possibilities of what you mean.”

“You got some suggestions do ya?” Thunderhoof shifted a bit to the side, offering up the space for his mate to sit with him. His bad mood eased ever so slightly as his offer was accepted, and the slightly smaller con leaned against his side contently.

“I’d hate to tell you how to do your job, dear. Hearing the nonsense that comes out of your vocaliser can often make my day.”

“And hearin’ yer snark and sass can often break my day.”

The two cons laughed lightly, letting themselves be at peace after a stressful and eventful day. Wrapping an arm around Steeljaw to pull him a bit closer, Thunderhoof returned his attention to the sky again. Certain memories still plagued his processor, but for now, at this moment, he let them go.

“I am sorry for the awkward addition to our pack.” Steeljaw traced absent-minded circles with his claws on the arm wrapped around him, leaving only the lightest of scratches. “Had I known of your history…I might’ve reconsidered.”

“That’s a load of scrap. We both know that.” Focusing back to his partner, he gave him a neutral look. “He could’ve been a con that tormented me for my whole fraggin’ existence, but if he was a good addition to our cause, you still wouldn’t have hesitated to let him join us.”

“You wound me. What you think of our teammates matters too, I am not above hearing what my partner has to say about other cons.” Shifting a bit, Steeljaw rested his helm against Thunderhoof’s chest, listening to his spark whirl from the close contact. “It’s not like you complained when Underbite joined us. Or Fracture and his minicons.”

“You mean the Chompazoid twice my size and with half the intellect of my right pede and the sparkling sitter with a certain Autobot obsession?” Steeljaw chuckled at the labels. “Yeah. Nothin’ I could says would stop those morons from joinin’ us. Honestly, yous got the worst taste in mechs.”

“Maybe for picking soldiers, but not for picking mates.”

Leaning upwards, Steeljaw stole a brief kiss from the crime boss, who was stunned for a brief second before reclaiming his partner’s lips for a moment longer. Despite claiming otherwise, Thunderhoof did enjoy these very brief romantic moments the two of them had. He could play up the idea that this whole affair was just a side distraction for him, but Thunderhoof was at his happiest whenever he got nice moments like these with his mate.

Especially the moments when he couldn’t tell if Steeljaw was attempting to trick or mislead him.

The wolf-con may well be one of the stealthiest and most manipulative mechs Thunderhoof ever met, and he knew this fact when he initiated their relationship. At the back of his processor, he was highly aware that his presence in Steeljaw’s life could be nothing more than a puzzle piece to be placed and abandoned when the time was right. He knew this, but stayed with him anyway. For reasons which even Thunderhoof couldn’t quite figure out.

“Darling,” Steeljaw spoke in a whispered tone as he pulled away from their kiss. “As much as I enjoy this, I’d like to remind you of certain teammates that could easily key into our partnership being a bit more than-“

“Brotherly?” Thunderhoof gave a smirk to the unamused reaction. “Fine, but I don’t wanna have to go back in there and deal with those bolt brains tonight. “

“In that case, would you care to continue our meeting someplace more… _private_?” The crime boss’ spark whirled at the implication, and Steeljaw gave a teasing lick to the side of his face. “That cavern by the river seems ideal right about now.”

“Yeah, I’m with ya there.”

Getting up from their spot, Thunderhoof stretched his limbs as his mate gave a quick notice to the rest of their team. They were apparently “scouting for some more energon deposits” and were not to be disturbed unless for emergencies. As if that wasn’t the most suspicious thing to request. Thunderhoof swore that Steeljaw was lightening up on the idea of making their relationship known by their teammates. That, or he just really wanted to start testing his teammates’ intellect to see how long it’ll take them to piece all the facts together.

“Before we get going, there’s one more thing I want to let you know about, dear.”

“Ah yeah? And what’s that?” Blinking as his partner transformed into vehicle mode and started to drive away, the moose-con made a confused gawk.

“First one to arrive at the cavern gets to top.”

“What the-? _You little sneak!_ ”

* * *

 

Several forest creatures had scrambled and ran away from rather loud noises emitting from a nearby cavern. Some noises of pleasure and some of pain, but the Earth creatures seemed to have regrouped and were put at ease when the loud cries seemed to have quieted down, the strange activities concluding.

In the small cavern, Thunderhoof managed to pull himself up enough to lean back against a wall, his neck cables leaking a bit of energon and his spark trying to calm down from his overloads. He gave a small moan as Steeljaw licked up some of the mess they made, particularly focusing on Thunderhoof’s inner thighs. The tired ‘Con could only bring up a servo to his partner’s helm to rub against it gently.

“Don’t trouble yourself…you did _plenty_ of work already.” Primus, he could barely speak a proper sentence, his voicebox staticy from earlier cries. Despite what he argued about when they arrived to their hideaway, Thunderhoof was quite content with the relief that getting fragged senseless gave him. Certainly made his earlier problems ease away.

“This is far from a burden, believe me.” Feeling a bit of exhaustion himself, Steeljaw moved upwards and lay on his mate’s torso, nuzzling his face for a moment before giving a soft, brief kiss. “Your company is always a pleasure. In more ways than one.”

“Right…”Thunderhoof held his somewhat-lover close, allowing the wolf-con to rest his helm in the crook of his neck and lap lightly at the open wound. His optics looked at the entrance of the cavern to the night sky once more, the stars still shining and the moonlight illuminating the two ‘Cons. “…Steel, can I ask yous somethin’?”

“Of course.” Steeljaw gave a final lick to the sensitive neck cables, bringing his attention to Thunderhoof’s hesitant face. “You can ask me anything, you know that.”

“Do you…” The crime boss sighed and looked away, bad thoughts creeping into his processor from earlier. “Do you ever remember gettin’ thrown in the Alchemor in da first place?”

“…perhaps you should ask a different question.”

“ _Steel._ ”

“Fine, fine, open honesty.” The wolf-con seemed to ponder a bit, clearly trying to think of what information he was willing to part with on the matter. Thunderhoof knew this was how they worked when it came to talking about their pasts; honest about anything they chose to say, but never pressured to say more than what they spoke about. “The prison ship was not unknown to me. I had heard rumors that Decepticons and high ranked criminals were being boarded upon it. But I didn’t know that _that’s_ where they put me when the Autobots threw me in a stasis pod.”

“Me neither. I figured I would just be in a prison ward on Cybertron when they gots me.” Thunderhoof looked out to the night sky again, lost in memory. Absentmindedly he started kneading some kinks out of his mate’s back, resulting in a noise of approval. “The whole thing is just really messed up, I mean- when they were throwin’ me in the slamma so to speak, I saw a lot scrap go down. Scrap that I wouldn’t peg some Autobot to be capable of doin’.”

“…such as?” Turning his helm slightly, he saw Steeljaw’s stunning yellow optics give him a stare that would make any other mech tremble for their spark. He was interested in these matters, but Thunderhoof could detect a hint of anger at the mention of Autobots.

Definitely wasn’t the best choice of “pillow talk” but since they already started this conversation…

“When I gots snagged by the cops and taken to a prison facility, there was another scene happenin’. I didn’t know ‘em but some femme just kept _howlin’_ at ‘em and it took three bots to try and pin ‘er down. I don’t thinks she could speak much; she just kept sayin’ the same sentence over and over. Sayin’ how she hated bein’ in bipedal mode and wanted to be in her alt-mode. Before I got knocked into stasis, I saw ‘em knock ‘er out and drag her into her pod.”

He grimaced as he recalled the struggle. Even with all the scrap he’s done to others, Thunderhoof still thought what the supposed “good guys” did to her was unjust. Cybertron’s system was evidentially corrupt enough even without his criminal affiliation to the law enforcement.

“Hm. It’s not below even a cop to ignore the rights of every Cybertronian.” The right to be in whichever form the Transformer felt most comfortable in. A right shared even in the immensely corrupt golden era before the war. “Still…as alarming as it must’ve been, you must be aware that the Autobots probably did that to keep her at bay. Giving a Decepticon a chance to transform could mean disaster to them.”

“That’s just it. She wasn’t one of us.” The wolf-con’s optics widened at that. “She didn’t have a Decepticon insignia. And I _knows_ she didn’t cause the last thing I saw ‘em do before I went offline was them _branding_ her with one.”

A deathly silence loomed over the two. The small sense of peace Thunderhoof felt for finally telling someone about that incident paled in comparison to the horrific rage Steeljaw felt for learning that something like that happened at all. Clawed servos pulled away from their lover’s waist and moved to sink into the cavern’s walls.

“I always thought it odd that our fellow prisoners were _all_ Decepticons…I always pegged it as a coincidence but…” A low growl was made. “So. Any criminal is deemed a ‘Con in Cybertron’s ideal world?”

“Even though I hate havin’ it after the war, at least I took this brand for a _reason_.” Thunderhoof glanced to Steeljaw’s sliced insignia, only half-wondering if there was ever a reason for its damage, aside from disabling the tracker. “Sure, decent ‘Cons and bad ‘Bots are hard to come by but-“

“Finding someone’s actions to be wrong isn’t an opportunity to label another’s life forever with that choice.”

Sighing softly, Thunderhoof gave a small smile at those words. As manipulative as the other can be with his speech, Steeljaw really can know just what to say in any situation. It almost made the crime boss excited to imagine just what his partner would be capable of if ( _when_ , he assured himself) they really do make Earth a safe haven for Decepticons. What kind of vision they had planned for the future and how they would repay Cybertron’s cruelty in kind were thoughts that made Thunderhoof eager to help his mate how he could.

“You took the words right outta my mouth, Steely.” He laughed lightly at the annoyed glare given to him. Clearly, it wasn’t a nickname the other enjoyed. “But I think I’d like to step back from the promises of spilled energon for a while…ya really exhausted me.”

“Hm, likewise my dear.” Steeljaw retracted his claws from the wall and pressed a servo to the side of his mate’s face, stroking gently before leaning up to give him a small kiss. “You recharge, I’ll be here to keep watch. I have…much to process.”

“’m sorry ‘bout that…”

“Don’t be. I’m very honored that you would trust me enough to tell me about such a worrisome memory.” The wolf-con lay contently against his partner, nuzzling his neck cables lovingly. “Recharge easy. I’ll be here.”

His optics growing dim, Thunderhoof allowed them to offline and rested back comfortably to the wall, feeling the warmth of Steeljaw in his arms lull him into recharge. In the midst of his fatigue he could’ve sworn something slipped from his lip plates but he wasn’t quite certain. And after everything that happened to him that day, he just couldn’t care anymore. He’d rather recharge happy with his partner than worry about another stupid thing.

Steeljaw, however, could only stare blankly at Thunderhoof when he heard a certain statement be said before his mate slipped into recharge.

“I think I’m startin’ to love you.” 


End file.
